Anyone who has ever negotiated anything knows that the hardest thing can often be the final steps, when you’ve put your flag in the ground and are insistent that this is the line beyond which you won’t go.

And with training camp looming, one can imagine that Brock Boeser is having a very hard time holding his ground. After all, the guy really just wants to play hockey.

“It is, it is hard,” his teammate Bo Horvat said Wednesday about the challenge of being a young player, of saying this is what I’m worth.

“It is stressful, because you want to get a deal done. You want to get back to your teammates, and you want to be there for camp and get going before the season starts. I find it definitely helps to get you mentally and physically prepared for the season.”

Horvat is entering the third year of a six-year, $33-million deal he signed on the eve of the 2017-18 season. He knows full-well what it can be like coming down to the wire in signing a new contract.

His own context, he pointed out, was rather different. This year, Boeser is one of a number of high-profile young stars after their second contracts.

When Horvat signed his deal, he was one of the last of that summer’s crop of restricted free agents to agree to their second contract.

“I think it’s totally different now. … When I was signing, there wasn’t, I don’t know how many RFAs holding out. I was one of the last ones to sign my deal,” he said. “I mean, they think they’re worth X amount of dollars. That’s what they’re fighting for. It is tough to hold out for that long, especially knowing your team’s playing and you want to be there a part of that.”

There is a principle at stake, and the players have been girding themselves against a possible lockout in a year’s time.

But whether there’s a broader strategy at play or not, one thing is certain: Boeser will be champing at the bit.

He spoke, with emphasis, last spring about how important it was for him to have a proper summer, one that wasn’t hindered by injury, unlike the previous two. He wanted to arrive at training camp this month after having followed a rigorous schedule.

Missing the start of training will surely be burning at him. Skating with his old team, the University of North Dakota, as he did Wednesday, just isn’t the same.

Horvat said he understood that anxiety.

“I was pretty confident that we were going to get something done,” he recalled. “I really wanted to come to camp and be up and ready to go for the season.”

Missing time at this point of pre-season puts you out of sync with the rest of your team and your opposition. Boeser knows how challenging that is, given his difficulties early last season.

“I think that would weigh on you,” Horvat said of the risk of having your preparation disrupted again. “I mean, it’s almost two camps in a row. It wouldn’t be easy. I think he wants to get here. I think he wants to be part of that, get off on a high, and get off to a better start this year. So I’m pretty confident we’re going to get something done here.

“Brock wants to come here. He wants to be a part of the team. So now, hopefully, they get something done.”